A water, sanitation and hygiene programme through which 50 selected communities in two districts in the Upper West Region will obtain safe water from local sources has been launched at Nandom. The two districts, Lawra and Nandom, share borders with Burkina Faso.
The project was dubbed ‘USAID Wa-WASH’. As part of the programme, the people in the communities were introduced to two techniques of obtaining safe water from contaminated water. The techniques are ‘point of use (POU) water treatment with acquatabs (special tablets); and the use of crystal filters’.
The programme was organised by the Afram Plains Development Organisation (APDO) with sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In a speech to set the project in motion, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Abu Kabiabata Kasangbata, said although safe water coverage in the region was about 77 per cent in total, the region continued to be plagued with several inconveniences brought about as a result of water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea that were still prevalent in the region.
The deputy regional minister said since the government was concerned with the health of the people, the district assemblies were expected to make the techniques of purifying water, especially the base materials, readily available to the people at affordable prices.
An official of USAID, Mr Daniel Nover, said the programme was meant to improve sanitation and access to safe water, and generally improve hygiene in the country. He said so far, six boreholes had been drilled and over 600 latrines provided in addition to the improvement on water sources for 1,800 people in the region.
He also said the two organsations hoped to provide safe water under a sustainable arrangement in rural areas and that through the provision of good and safe drinking water, the people would not fall victim to water-borne diseases.
A resource person, Mr Cuthbert Baba Kuupiel, for his part, commended USAID and APDO for the introduction of the programme, which he described as very timely. He hoped the water, sanitation and hygiene programme would assist in improving the life of the people in the communities.
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